ICAO Commends Kazakhstan's Efforts in Investigating AZAL Plane Crash in Aktau

Kazakhstan’s Vice Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev on Thursday met with Nicolas Rallo, Regional Director for the ICAO's European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Office.

Bozumbayev thanked the ICAO for steadfast support in the issues concerning cooperation with Kazakhstan and for timely sending independent expert Thormodur Tormodsson to the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash site, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazinform.

“On behalf of the Government, I express our sincere gratitude for steadfast support rendered to us, including for the support of our initiatives. We will continue interaction with the ICAO to fully complete this investigation,” said Bozumbayev.

He pointed that from the first days of the plane crash, Kazakhstan has aimed at unbiased and comprehensive investigation of the catastrophe.

In turn, Nicolas Rallo highly praised the preliminary report on the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash conducted and released by Kazakhstan in a short period of time.

He praised the efforts of Kazakhstan and the Commission which enabled to complete this preliminary report just within less than a month and a half.

He called on the Kazakh side to continue ensuring full compliance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation throughout the investigation process.

It should be reminded that the final report on the AZAL plane crash near Aktau will be released by the end of 2025 in line with the Chicago Convention.

Notably, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, an Embraer 190AR, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25, 2024, during an emergency landing attempt. The flight, travelling from Baku to Grozny, was carrying 67 people, including 62 passengers and five crew members. The crash resulted in 38 deaths, with 29 survivors, including three crew members.

Preliminary investigations suggest the aircraft was hit by a Russian "Pantsir-S1" surface-to-air missile, fired in an effort to thwart a Ukrainian drone attack over Chechnya. Russian authorities initially downplayed the incident, but later investigations confirmed the missile strike. It was also revealed that the aircraft's navigation systems had been compromised by electronic warfare, hindering the crew's control of the plane.